Page:Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. v. Connectix Corporation.pdf/9

 disassembly. See id. at 1527–28. We see no reason to distinguish observation of copyrighted software in an emulated computer environment. Both methods require the reverse engineer to copy protected as well as unprotected elements of the computer program. Because this intermediate copying is the gravamen of the intermediate infringement claim, see 17 U.S.C. § 106(1); Sega, 977 F.2d at 1518–19, and both methods of reverse engineering require it, we find no reason inherent in these methods to prefer one to another as a matter of copyright law. Connectix presented evidence that it observed the Sony BIOS in an emulated environment to observe the functional aspects of the Sony BIOS. When this method of reverse engineering was unsuccessful, Connectix engineers disassembled discrete portions of the Sony BIOS to view directly the ideas contained therein. We conclude that intermediate copying in this manner was “necessary” within the meaning of Sega.

We decline to follow the approach taken by the district court. The district court did not focus on whether Connectix’s copying of the Sony BIOS was necessary for access to functional elements. Instead, it found that Connectix’s copying and use of the Sony BIOS to develop its own software exceeded the scope of Sega. See Order at 17 (“[T]hey disassembled Sony’s code not just to study the concepts. They actually used that code in the development of [their] product.”). This rationale is unpersuasive. It is true that Sega referred to “studying or examining the unprotected aspects of a copyrighted computer program.” 977 F.2d at 1520 (emphasis added). But in Sega, Accolade’s copying, observation and disassembly of Sega’s game cartridges was held to be fair use, even though Accolade “loaded the disassembled code back into a computer, and experimented to discover the interface specifications for the Genesis console by modifying the programs and studying the results.” Id. at 1515. Thus, the distinction between “studying” and “use” is unsupported in Sega. Moreover, reverse engineering is a technically complex, frequently iterative process. Johnson-Laird, 19 U. Dayton L.Rev. at 843–44. Within the limited context of a claim of intermediate infringement, we find the semantic distinction between “studying” and “use” to be artificial, and decline to adopt it for purposes of determining fair use.

We also reject the argument, urged by Sony, that Connectix infringed the Sony copyright by repeatedly observing the Sony BIOS in an emulated environment, thereby making repeated copies of the Sony BIOS. These intermediate copies could not have been “necessary” under Sega, contends Sony, because Connectix engineers could have disassembled the entire Sony BIOS first, then written their own Connectix BIOS, and used the Connectix BIOS to develop the Virtual Game Station hardware emulation software. We accept Sony’s factual predicate for the limited purpose of this appeal. Our doing so, however, does not aid Sony.